Ex-employee executed Rs 3 crore armed loot at gold loan firm in Gujarat

SURAT/BHARUCH: Four persons were arrested on Wednesday from Surat for their alleged involvement in the sensational daylight robbery of gold jewellery and cash worth Rs 3.33 crore from the office of India Infoline Finance Limited (IIFL) in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch on November 9.
Sources said that the kingpin identified as Mohsin Imtiyaz Gulam Mustufa Malek (33) was working at Vapi branch of IIFL gold loan as recovery manager in 2011.The accused worked there for about a year and was aware of daily operations of the branch. The other accused included Mohammad Ali Nakuda (29), Mohsin Khalifa (28) and Salim Khan (29). All accused are residents of Surat.
Masked robbers had entered the branch office of IIFL on the first floor of Ashish Shopping Centre and spent about 30 minutes inside the office holding the staffers hostage at gun-point and knife-point. The accused had escaped with 6,680 grams of gold jewellery and cash in their car. Footage of the CCTV installed inside the shopping complex showed the four robbers escaping in a Swift car.
Talking with TOI, JN Zala, police inspector of Bharuch crime branch said, “We have nabbed the four accused involved in robbery at IIFL office in Ankleshwar. We had sought the help of the Valsad and Mumbai police in cracking the case as they had nabbed gang members involved in targeting the gold finance offices in Mumbai and Gujarat.”
One of the accused Salim was earlier booked in a case of prohibition and mobile phone theft. Both Mohsin Malek and Salim were the mastermind of the robbery. They had involved other two in a gang and decided a role of each during the execution.
Salim was responsible for creating panic among staff with a revolver, while Mohammad Ali ensured that no one entered the office. Mohsin Khalifa tied up employees with a rope and Mohsin Malek collected the gold and cash from the strong room.